5
1 Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, never to rise again, is virgin Israel.
She lies abandoned on her land;
there is no one to raise her up.”
3 For this is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that sends out a thousand will have a hundred left, and the one that sends out a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.”
4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live.
5 Do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, and do not cross over to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.”
6 Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire against the house of Joseph and consume it, with no one to quench it at Bethel.
7 You who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness to morning and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is his name.
9 He makes destruction flash upon the strong, and destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who reproves at the gate and abhor the one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample the poor and exact a grain levy from him, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not live in them.
You have planted lovely vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.
12 “For I know how many your transgressions are and how grave your sins—you who oppress the righteous, accept a bribe, and turn the needy aside at the gate.”
13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at such a time, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live.
Then the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you say.
15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the gate.
Perhaps the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be mourning in every square, and in every street they will say, ‘Alas!
Alas!’ They will call the farmer to mourning and those skilled in lamentation to wailing.
17 There will be mourning in every vineyard, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!
What will the day of the LORD mean for you?
It is darkness and not light,
19 as when a man flees from a lion and meets a bear, or enters the house, rests his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him.
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness and not light, gloom without any brightness?
21 “I hate, I reject your festivals, and I will not savor your solemn assemblies.
22 Even if you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
I will not look upon the peace offerings of your fattened cattle.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?
26 You will carry Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
27 I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.